May I ask You Something?
by stefan-deserves-romance
Summary: Set: Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime. Past. Present. Future. "(..)Damon and Stefan (...) had no one but one another." Defan/Guiseppe and slight Stefonnie R&R if you like :)
1. May I Ask You Something?

May I Ask You Something?

"May I ask you something?"

"A Roland for an Oliver." He said making her smile. "Why are Damon and you…why do you keep on rescuing each other?" Stefan blew a short whistle. "Damon and me….we used to be best friends; so different yet it felt like being supplemented to be in each other's company and then…"

"Katherine came by…" Stefan gave her a sad look. "I wished the answer was that easy to reply: We were like a union; fighting against our father who said he´d love us but was being such a despot. It didn´t matter to him if we were happy; it was all about the duration of our dynasty." Stefan stopped feeling somewhat tired by all the centuries lying on his shoulders. "The firstborn always gets it all: The fortune and the prestige as well as the power and the burden. In our father´s eyes Damon was a bon vivant. He couldn't bring himself to trust him.

"But he did trust you?"

Stefan nodded slowly. "I sometimes think they didn't get along with each other because he saw something in Damon: A mirrored picture of his own inadequacies."

_He was being late. Too late. It wasn't new but Stefan couldn't get along with his older brother stumbling from one misery into the other. Though, Damon was his role model whom he admired only in secret: Damon was all Stefan was not but in some ways wanted to be. Therefore Stefan was what Damon liked to call his "guardian angel" that covered him up whenever their father was about to find out which way the wind was blowing. And until this very day, they managed to avoid being caught red-handed. It wasn´t that Giuseppe Salvatore was displeased about his heirs´ nightly encounters furthermore it was a thorn in his flesh to know that Mystic Falls was talking about Damon as a lady-killer. He himself had brought having wedlock activities to perfection. The only discrepancy was that in his case, it was accepted so no-one talked about it whereas Damon was badmouthed. If Damon wasn't appearing here soon he couldn't guarantee anything. _

_The candle was almost burned out; going back into the kitchen to get a new one was impossible and an risk too hard to calculate. Damon would have to hurry if he didn't plan to play "blind man´s bluff". The knock on the washhouses window startled him out of his thoughts. As swiftly as the candle in his hands allowed him to, Stefan climbed onto linen closet opening the window. "Jesus, Stef…" Damon breathed heavily as he tried to force himself through the little window. "I thought you had forgotten about me." But as always he landed on his feet all effortless and without black and blue marks. Stefan only made a face at Damon taking a bow, "Thank you…Thank you very much…Thank you….Thanks…." acting as if he was a tightrope artist acknowledged with applause of his imaginary audience. _

"_Damon, come on now. We have to hurry." Stefan got nervous. While he always acted with caution, Damon´s limits were variable. "Come on Stef. Don't be grumpy." He tousled his little brother´s hair as he made his way out of the washhouse as if he had all the time in the word, humming a happy melody._

"That sounds great." Bonnie commented being deeply moved by Stefan´s story. It was only a snapshot but it held that much meaning that she began to understand. "And then?" – "We weren´t caught if you mean that. But I guess our father knew; was it the gossip going around town or his instinct. He knew. To insist on your opinion no matter what was an unwritten law. Not that I have given you any indication in that department." Stefan added jokingly.

"_But father please, listen to me. That wasn't the plan. I am not the one to continue the proceedings." His life was turned upside down, the plans he had were null and void. "Don´t you think that Damon is the better choice? He is the firstborn and you always keep reminding us that traditions need to be kept. It was a sad try but he needed to. Giuseppe never had been a man to speechify matters. There they sat: In the dining-room on the oversized table shrouded in their normal definition of company: Even then they were together they were all alone. The only noise was the clattering tableware predominated by Stefan´s statement. "Father, are you listening?" Giuseppe didn't reply. He wasn't in the need of answering according to his own law._

"_He won´t give you an answer he never does." Damon said instead way too calmly. The fork screeched against the plate giving the patriarch his self-evident attention. "I have to think of our family's reputation." With the atmosphere as cold as ice, Stefan kept focusing on his meal. He could picture the angry stares that his father and brother were exchanging easily by memory. "Reputation? You? You of all people dare to tell me about reputation? How can you? "Damon…"Giuseppe said warningly. "Guard your tongue." But he didn't think of doing what his father told him to. He hadn't done that before and he wouldn't start doing that now only to be eating humble pie as long as his father wanted to put him down._

_To have nothing to lose makes you brave, much braver than you truly are. _

"_Tell us father: Tell us how many brothers and sisters do Stefan and I have? _

"_That doesn't even enter the equation." _

_Nothing their father hadn´t wanted to talk about had ever entered equation. Nor Stefan nor Damon knew by number how many siblings they indeed could call family .They had been given the order to avoid their gazes if they ever met one of them in public. And sometimes they didn't even know their names. _

"_It´s irrelevant because they aren't Salvatore´ like you two are." Stefan´s flinching and Damon blowing a raspberry stayed uncommented. It wasn´t said in particular but that wasn't even necessary. The message was hard enough and oh so clear: They weren´t loved for being his sons or for being humanly good. The only thing that had brought them something comparable to love was the fact that they wore his name. _

In the end, Damon and Stefan had been taught by cruelty of life itself that they had no one but one another. But the ditch created by their father was nothing to be rationalized easily. They had grown closer yet they were further apart than ever. Partly because Damon was ashamed of his behavior and the involved consequences, partly because Stefan´s life had changed overnight: To study medicine was no longer an option. Therefore he was being introduced to several potential business partners and most of all – his bride-to be. Damon wasn't mad at his brother. No. He was…alone simply. His brother- his best friend- was gone; taken away from him, with no chance to get him back; heading towards his golden sunset- At least that´s what it looked like to him and what he had been told. Never would he have thought his birthright would be taken away from him within seconds.

"He often accused me of leaving him behind; that I wasn´t interested in him anymore; believing what everyone was telling me, how I was a far better choice than him."

Now by owning the wisdom and farsightedness, he knew Damon had been right. Being his father´s heir was nothing he had dreamed of. But to be the one who earned the public´s confidence suited him more than he admitted.

**The End**


	2. Blood's Thicker

"How's Elena?" Stefan stood there frozen in his movements. His brother was standing there the cell phone pressed onto his ear.

Stefan still eyed him in anticipation, waiting while the older Salvatore-brother commented something Liz was saying: "We do it as agreed, Liz…Yes, I am absolutely sure…Thanks to you…See you at the council."

"Are you planning to stay?" Stefan asked half surprised, half worried. It was no secret that – despite all odds- The two Salvatore's loved each other. Neither Damon nor Stefan would ever admit that but nonetheless:

_Loving your brother is one thing, discrepancies are another: Rivalry isn't new nor does it run the risk of becoming obsolete._

Stefan and Damon had mastered in the section "How to deal with brotherly love." As intended as this is – thanks to the inventor – as much are the hate, the feeling of competition an axiomatic law of nature.

"Yes brother. I'm going to come back, stay here, and settle down in our _hometown._" The growl in need to escape Stefan's lips was hard to be choked down and Stefan couldn't avoid the feeling of giving Damon the upper hand, without a chance to defeat what was his and yet, his brother hadn't even moved a muscle.

While Stefan felt lightly humiliated, Damon was just as uncertain: Regarding their situation with favor, they weren't more than a partnership of convenience.

_Never let your brother know how you really feel about him._

"No need to act all sarcastically."

Damon smirked. This was going to be after his fancy. With a fending movement of his hands, he answered: "It just seemed you are not too amused about me returning." Damon's voice had become provocative but Stefan, who was used to his brother´s tricks, was unhurried. "Why shouldn't I? I mean besides the fact that you walked away without saying goodbye."

That was true. Damon hadn't said goodbye. It would have been too hard. What at all could he have said? _"I love you; hope you'll enjoy your life with Elena?" _His brother's love had been the only one he said goodbye to.

He was leaning casually against the countertop, legs and arms crossed. An act of self-protection_. _"I'm not the guy for those great goodbye-scenario's, you know me."

"Oh, yeah. I do." Stefan answered, copying Damon's gesture and tone. Leaning against the counter, there was no way to disguise they were related. And maybe, just maybe they have more in common than DNA or their hearts beating for the same girl.

"Do you mind, giving me something to drink?"

"Sure. I can offer you a Pepsi." –

"Really Stef, Pepsi?" He would never understand why today, having alcohol at home was almost a crime. "Whatever."

With that the conversation had fallen silent. Sitting in the living-room turned out to be an awkward issue: Like invading Stefan's and Elena's privacy. He couldn't help but recognize how exhausted his baby-brother apparently was. What if Elena had told him about…about what? You couldn't even call it an affair; it had been a breath of air not more. Damon smiled slightly. _Stefan, Stefan. Every other would have taken the opportunity to…_

"Why are you here Damon?" said raised his head, blinking a few times as if he had to remember where he was. "Do I need permission for visiting my family?"

"Of course not." Stefan answered ironically, always on alarm he scanned every of Damon's movements, the way he gritted his teeth together. His eyes weren't icy but focused. It isn't hard to find out he has something in mind but it´s hard to tell _what _and mainly _why._

You can speculate about the future: Choices influence decisions. Right, left, moving ahead? So many opportunities not only _backwards can be made. _When a choice is made you'll simply get other opportunities. _Left again, or however another direction. _Not only brotherly laws of nature are set in stone, so are the laws of choice making: It doesn't mean anything how many choices you are able to tread if you tread the wrong one. It's hardly possible to recoup what you did wrong.

Who knows? Maybe, if Damon would have chosen differently: How would that have affected the upcoming actions, for the better, for the worse?

The whole life is mostly consisted on choices: Just a blink of an eye for every single one to be made. The outcome is unknown.

"What are you doing?" Damon turned his head, seeing his brother holding a blood-bag in his hands, the refrigerator opened widely. "Elena needs to feed."

"Bambi?" Stefan's angry glare amused Damon. Mr. Perfect stumbles over his own mistakes over and over again.

Exhaling a deep breath, Stefan felt disarmed: "Maybe you should take a sip before you judge." Waving the bag in his hands "what do you say?"

Patronizing as it was his nature, Damon took the bag, swirling it.

"You won´t make any differences by looking at it." Stefan waited with his hands crossed over his chest, preparing for what was to come. "No, but it doesn't keep our cravings at bay."

But Stefan didn't want to face it. Not after two months of happiness, when everything was fine and bloodlust was practically nonexistent. Damon's voice hardly broke through to him: "Isn't that so, Stef?" His chest got heavy and although he didn't need oxygen, the fact he wasn't able to reply something made him weak.

Becoming a vampire is no bed of roses. All the temporary novels are hilarious. If being on animal-blood was that easy, Jesus, that would be paradise. But what the novels don't talk about is the fun to kill. The thrill: to see the angst in your victim's eyes and the understanding they´re about to die.

That's what he wanted to spare Elena from. Not drinking blood is what makes the monster a monster: The killing makes all the difference, makes the holiest soul a doomed one.

"_I have to drink human blood, don't I?" _

_The sadness in her eyes nearly killed him. She was wrapped up in his arms. They had talked about the future. Aware it wouldn't be any less than challenging; Elena was determined to take the risk. "I can't leave Jeremy and I'd never leave you."_

This is what is called true love: Taking the greatest risk, facing your greatest fear because in the end nothing is as bad as it seems as long as you are capable of love and being loved in return.

"I only want to protect her Damon."

He played with the blood-bag trying to be appreciative of Stefan's motives but reality painted a different picture. "I'm not saying she has to kill. Just think of Lexi: Wasn't she on human blood-bags as well? If I remember correctly you didn't judge her either for that." Damon was right, of course he was.

There was no reason to question Stefan and Elena as soul mates: meant to be together. So many different similarities: Love for old books, music, travelling to the same places…But what if Elena wasn't only his counterpart of good but of bad as well?

"I know you're scared. Me, too." Damon admitted letting his eyes roll in faked sarcasm as he grabbed Stefan's shoulders, looking him in the eyes: "As we both know, I'm not good when it comes to brotherhoods, so I'm saying this once and once only: After our recent past, I should be hurt, angry but…I'm not." Stefan glanced at him in complete surprise. He hadn't expected anything like this. Where was his spiteful brother? "I got it. I finally, finally got it: You are the one she had fought for. You are the reason she has gone through several hells and back." Damon wasn't the crying type of a guy not with another person paying attention but Stefan made out a single tear hidden in the corner of his eye. "And never doubt her love or her personality."

"But I feel guilty Damon."

You have to overcome your own fear but are you strong enough and what will be the consequences if you fail

"What happened is no-one's fault. I never have been let down more kindly than by Elena." Deep down in his heart he had known that Elena saying, everything could be the other way around if they had met first was only meant for comfort. And even with her realizing they actually did met first he hadn't bet of a change in her mind. "I just want to see the two people I love most getting their happily ever after."

A more or less funny statement followed by a smirk only Damon was able to come up with during such an emotional moment. He wasn't the emotional one of the brothers. This rare moment of brotherly love had flown away and if any of them was asked, none would admit it had ever taken place.

"You know what is right, Stefan. You know it's for the better."

Damon's words were heavy on his chest; his mind was a rollercoaster so the words were out without a second thought as he saw his brother stepping away from him. "I know I'm probably going to sound selfish…"

"There is no need brother. You are selfish."

Stefan was shocked. "I do wish I could grant you Elena…I just…I can't let her go."

Damon's face softened immediately. "Isn't that what true love is all about?

**Fin.**

**A/N: Damon's back. Defan is back. I'm happy. Who's with me?**

**A/N2: R&R if you like. It makes my day!**


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